Wrong Bloodline - The Lost One arc
by coe-lilium
Summary: Eight years after the War, Harry Potter and his friends are quite satisfied with their lives, thank you very much. The Potter-Weasley clan is more numerous than ever, with Andromeda and Teddy Tonks long settled as part of the family. Then, what should've been a normal Auror raid turn into a rescue mission and another child is destined to wreak havoc in their routine.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone!**

 **Two different kind of notes before we start.**

 **First, about the story: I read and really liked Cursed Child. I, sadly, did not like what the narrative decided for the character of Delphi (a character I liked and found fascinating even if heatbreaking) and I have all kinds of problems with page 314 of the scriptbook and the adults!characters behaviour.**  
 **I knew I wanted to change that outcome but doing so in a post- or during-canon fic... it would've been too late for lots of changes and I settled for the current project, a set of different narrative "arcs", similar to the japanese light novel medium style.**

 **Second and probably more important: although I believe I'm presenting a readible piece, English is not my native language and this is the first time I write fiction in it. I did my best, but it's likely that some sentences will be affected by the italian structure and other problems that escaped me. For that, I apologize in advance.**

 **Comments, osservations and critics over plot/character's actions/language are more than welcome, but I'll be grateful for everyone who will decide to just spend some of their time reading it.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1**

 **The echo unforseen**

* * *

It had been a quiet, normal day for Harry Potter. No raids. No arrests. Just training, paperwork and supervision of the new recruits. Ginny was off for a two-days training camp so he had to leave early and start cooking right away, otherwise James'd make a scene. He'd only hope his little monsters hadn't driven Andromeda crazy.

He had just started packing when one of the fireplaces glowed and Neville rolled out of it, his expression deadly serious.

"Harry! Thank Dumbledore you're still here! We'll need more people as possible"

So much for getting home early.

"Neville, calm down. What happened?"

"Old acquaintances up to something" he said, clearly upset. Not good.

Harry sighed and braced himself "Alright. Who?"

"Death Eaters"

Well.

Shit.

Only years of training and experience helped him recover as fast as he did.

"Alright, let me contact Andromeda, I'd to ask her if she can look after the boys a little longer, or ask Molly if she can't. Ten minutes and I'll be yours". He dropped packing and headed for the closer fireplace.

"Gotcha. I'll get all the veterans and chief. Drop a word to Kingsley too, you can never tell if he'll wants in"

"Any idea of how bad it'll get? Any info?" asked Harry while getting a handful of floo.

"An entire mansion out of nowhere. Dark spells and curses to hide it. Vayra said she recognized Euphemia Rowle. Overheard about "projects" already in motion. Doesn't sound good, does it?"

No, it didn't. At all.

"Big chances to go pretty bad pretty fast, then. Go warn Hermione's Department too, now that you're at it. I'd rather not have to deal alone against chimeras or Hagrid knows what else".

"Yeah, better to avoid a disaster like with Morgenstern's bloody manticore pet. I still get the nightmares"

And with that last reassuring bit, Neville disapparated.

Harry threw the floo at the fireplace and shouted "Harry and Ginny Potter's home, London, Albion Street" before putting his head into the green flames. A little pop, the brief sensation of clogged ears, and he was looking at his living room, Teddy right in the middle of the carpet with James rolling over his back and…

"Harry!" a worried female voice irrupted in the room and after few seconds Andromeda Tonks appeared in front of him, lowering herself to his level "What's wrong?".

"Emergency" he lowered his voice to a murmur "Neville's got info of Death Eaters being up to something. We'll have a briefing within next minutes, and I don't know when I'll be back home. I hate to ask…"

"Don't even try it, Harry. Teddy and I will stay for all the time necessary" she smirked "It isn't as they'll be sad to have more hours to play together, is it?".

"Too true. Thank you, Andromeda. Send James and Albus my love"

Feeling uneasy Harry retreated from the fire, back in a office now full of his colleagues.

"Welcome back, Potter. Warned home?"

Harry stood up and met the Head of Aurors, Kingsley at his side. Called it.

"Done, chief. I'm ready"

Duncan nodded and barked an "Attention!" that silenced every ongoing chatter "Good, gentlemen. Every one at their desk and eyes on the blackboard. Longbottom, if you please".

For a moment the office was a mess, men and women clashing one with another while reaching their posts. Then, a perfect silence. Neville was standing alone in front of their biggest blackboard, already covered with maps and notes on parchment.

"Since most of you have only heard "Death Eaters" before rushing here, let me give you a better brief. One of my best informants" here he looked at Duncan, he nodded and Neville went on "contacted me not even an hour ago. She had personally witness something that required the Auror's utmost attention and wanted us to meet in person. I'll make it short: today she was camping in the forest near Ravenscar when she saw an entire mansion, a Malfoy Manor sized one, her words, pop out of nowhere, garden and grove included. It was inhabited, there were people chatting on the outside while restoring protection and concealment spells. Lucky us, she was able to get near enough to recognize at least one person and overhear them. She recognized Euphemia Rowle; the family's infamous enough for us all, Euphemia herself was never legally persecuted, she was no Death Eater, and we knew she lived retired in the family official mansion. I've checked, and no Ministry logs register a magical residence near Ravenscar" Neville took his first breath "Rowle and her companions were talking about how something was "growing well" and would've been prepared enough in few years. They were arguing over the time gap and according to Vayra, Rowle was talking about a little more than ten years or "it will be too young to succeed". She pinned the location, left and rushed right to me. I have the map with the exact coordinates right here" he pointed the one on the blackboard before facing them again "I could trust Vayra with my life, she've proven herself countless times and both chief and the Minister known her: I believe we should act as soon as we can".

Kingsley was the first to break the silence "I agree with Longbottom. This'd have been bad enough if ex Death Eaters were only hiding a mansion, but if they are working on something, and it seems that whatever it is started long ago, we won't act as soon as we can, we'll act immediately. Everyone in their best gear, and bring with you first aid potions. Gathering point in the hall of this Office, we'll depart within thirty minutes". He disapparated, likely to inform his staff of the Minister future whereabouts.

"Alright men, you heard the Minister, so get ready! Potter, Longbottom, to me"

Harry rushed to his side, Neville on his tracks. They were led in a corner, away from their colleagues crow.

"Neville, once again: well done. Now go get your and Harry's gears; Harry, you go check if Granger and her team are ready. Give them advice if they need it".

It was Harry's turn to nod and apparate away, right at the Magical Creatures's Department's door. He was about to knock when the door was smashed open from the inside and a hand grabbed him. It was Hermione, shouting instructions left and right while dragging him along. Harry had been in her Department before, but he'd never really appreciated the silencing charm put on the door as much as now. There were at least a dozen different creatures, all screaming, and two dozen of wizards and witches, half of them in raid gear and half busy controlling the creatures. And that was only the main hall!

"We were waiting for Aurors to show up, glad it's you Harry, come help us finalizing the details".

"Wait, have you guys being already informed of everything?"

"Yes, we were able to hear Neville and Kingsley from the Head's office. And I believe Kingsley's absolutely right, better to strike now than risk having them transfer somewhere else, although Syda and others disagree"

They were arrived, it seemed. The largest desk of the hall, covered with potions, protective paddings for clothes, parchment with description and drawings of diverse creatures and dozen others thing he couldn't recognize, with Hermione's usual team all around it debating. She pushed him right in front of that mess.

"We've taken griffon and hyppogriffs and respective countermeasures into consideration. Dragons?"

"Hermione! There'll be no dragon, there's no space or way to hide it, not even if they're keeping secret part of the forest. Do include the possibility of a chimaera or a manticore, tho" he spotted one of the youngster trying to interrupt him and raised a hand "Yes, I know that they're greek and very rare. But please, do try and say to chief that find a british dark wizard with a manticore is "unlikely". He and his scar'd like to disagree".

Silence followed and it was up to Syda "I disagree but will tag along to save your assess" Adrisi retake the situation in hand.

"Manticore and chimaera to add, alright. Everyone, go grab the necessary, and let's try to bring at least twenty of us. Those creatures must not be undervalued." She turned to face him

"Potter, first, thanks, second, now get out of the way and back to your office, we'll be on time".

Harry nodded and apparated away, puzzled. And I'd always thought Hermione was bossy!

At 7 pm and not a second later, the Auror's Office main hall was crowded by at least forty or forty five people, so quiet that you could've heard a pin drop. Harry was standing with his team, near Terry Boot's, both of them nodding at various silent greetings. On such rare occasions, people known to have fought in the Battle draw more attention and since they inspired security in others, were usually distributed in different teams. They were the Aurors "tested in fiendfyre", as the saying went.

Kingsley and Duncan were standing shoulder to shoulder on a floating platform; Neville, with them, was busy sending flying notes with the coordinates, a list of useful tracking spell and safety advices to every participant.

Harry memorized the note and waited.

"Last words of advice, everyone! We'll now reach Ravenscar city via Apparition and approach the exact point with brooms to avoid informing the Death Eaters of our arrival. Once at our destination, Blishen's team will open a breach in the protection spells. Five squads, mine, the Minister's, Boot's, Longbottom's and Potter's will infiltrate, the rest of you will stay outside, cast an anti apparition spell to cover the entire area and be ready to catch whoever will manage to escape us. Three Auror and at least two members of the Creatures Department for each team, and for the love of God and Dumbledore, do not wander alone and absolutely do not engage the enemy alone. The first one I'll see try something so stupid will regret it dearly. I don't care how much experience you have, how brave you feel: do not, at no time, try to take on a Death Eater by yourself".

All forty five nodded in a perfect silence.

* * *

As Duncan had predicted during the flight, break down the concealment and protection spells was proving to be a long process. They couldn't face the risk of having the inhabitants suspect a thing, so counter spells had to be precise and subtle, to outflank and bypass rather then make everything collapse with a boom.

And while Richard and his team were working, Harry and the others could only sit and wait. He hated it. The war had ended not even ten years ago! His children, his nephews, his friends's children… they were just babies. Teddy wasn't even ten! He'd never allow Voldemort's shadow to come back to haunt all of them again. He threw a rock against a tree so hard the bark splintered.

"Potter!"

"Sorry, chief."

Terry kicked him gently and then sat down with him "Come on, Harry. We Tested have to stay calm or the others'll worry ten times more. And" he toned down his voice to a murmur "your scar's not hurting, is it?"

"No, no. Been deadly silent since the Battle".

Hermione and Neville then joined them and once again it was the four of them, back to back in a cold, dark night, waiting to fight monsters. The only kind of dark he wasn't afraid of.

At least an couple of hours passed and Harry was on verge of closing his eyes when the whispers "it's done, they did it" reached him and his friends. They rose immediately and parted to join their groups, his and Neville's rushing to Duncan side. Richard and his guys were lying on the grass, painting heavily, tired but satisfied. Right in front of them, a round door-sized hole with glowing rims, beyond which could be glimpsed the mansion: the breach, finally. Richard himself grinned as they approached him "Told ya', mates: there's no barrier in this country we can't overcome".

Neville bowed and high-five'd him "Yeah, good job".

Kingsley then raised his hand and every chatter died at once "Everyone in position, five teams, with me". Members of the Creatures department divided into the Aurors teams, Hermione and Syda joined Harry's. Wands out, Chief and his team were the first to pass over the breach. Harry was third, clutching the holly wand and, yes, hoping the scar remained silent as the past eight years. When, already on the other side, with the mansion, the grove and the park in front of him, the proof yet another betrayal of so called "ex" Death Eaters, surrounded by his friends and colleagues, he dared to let go of his breath, Harry realized that no, the scar wasn't hurting. Thank you.

Since the strategy had already been decided in flight, they only cast the perfected disillusionment charm, hugged, and wished each other good luck before parting ways: his group, Neville's and Teddy's aiming for the back, Kingsley's and Duncan's straight to the front door. Harry ventured a glance at Kingsley and wasn't surprised in the least to find a murderous look. He could even hear in his head "I've really had enough with those damned terrorists!". Chuckling, he gestured to his team and they headed right into the park surrounding the mansion. Everyone was still carrying their broom to enter from the roof if necessary, but they'd all decided to walk as long as they could, to further decrease the chances of getting caught.

As they advanced, it became more and more evident how the Rowles felt really safe in their nest. They found no traps, no alarm spells and encountered no magical creatures, just normal animals. Harry payed particular attention to the number of snakes, as superstitious as this could've been, and was relieved when he spotted a single little viper, who disappeared immediately. It took them fifteen minutes to reach the back, not a single threat on their way. Once nearer the mansion, Harry took his time to scan it, searching for… well, basically everything. Constance vigilance, after all.

It looked much less well cared for than all the others magic manors he'd visited. Small cracks and sign of weathering were everywhere, and they were pretty bad since he was able to see them with the only aid of his wand light, enchanted to let it be seen only by those under a Companionship spell. The manor had three storeys with seven windows on each floor, some, on the first and the attic, illuminated. Usually, he'd have dismissed them immediately as possible break-points, but first they had to know how many enemies were inside. The ground floor was pitch black, which could turn out to be either a good thing or the first trap. From what he could see, at least two sides of the manor were covered in ivy. He gestured at the others to come closer and pointed them what looked like a trail of squashed ivy, as if someone was using it as a staircase from the attic's last window on their left to the ground. Funny enough, that particular window was lit.

"I really don't like this. Only an underage wizard or witch, or a muggle, would ever need such a thing. And the traces don't even look teenager-sized, they're too small. Once we're in, Syda and I'll go there right away"

"Alright" he said, trying to stay controlled. The idea of finding a… child? a teenager? had never crossed his mind before and now was upsetting him. He hadn't kept up to date on eventual ex DE's children, true, so a little Rowle could've been responsible of that trail. But the knowledge the Rowles were working on a "project" that required time to grow gave him a bad feeling.

"I can't decide if they're think this place has the best protection of the world, they're hiding everything in and will unleash it all at first signs of intrusion in the mansion or if they're just this stupid" Rachel, one of the newest addiction to his team, sounded almost disappointed.

"Let's hope it's the third, okay?"

In silence, they reached the house, went up to the ground floor windows and Neville took out a coin from his gear "The others are in position as well, we cover this side and then messages back". At that signal, everyone cast a silent Homenum Revelio all over the place. Harry took the ground floor, and a glance at Hermione told him she was focused on the window over the ivy trail. Two red lights appeared, one in the attic and one one first floor: human presences. One was in Hermione's room. Other lights, light blue, were found in every story. They're concentrated especially in the left side of ground floor and the newly discovered underground, Dumbledore knew if a innocent cellar or what else. Harry counted a dozen of those lights and took a relieved sigh. Blue lights meant House Elves. Syda and her colleagues then cast their own specific tracking spells and, apparently, found nothing. This was a real blessing. Two humans and only elves.

 _We can do this. We won't lose anyone this time._

"Neville!"

"I know, I know. Duncan is writing they've found only one person. If this is all, it's twenty nine of us against three."

They looked at each other and smiled. After expecting the worst, this was pretty good, whatever were the Rowles planning.

"Ok, guys" said Harry "Now, we've got no idea of the planimetry and, honestly, I still don't trust this black hole here" he pointed at the window at his side "So here's the plan: Rachel, Gwyn, on your brooms and tell me where the hell is Euphemia. When you find her, signal down here and we'll all break in right in her face. Disarming and bounding spells immediately, but be prepared for worse. Let's deal with her first and then meet up with the others".

"Yes sir!"

"Aye!"

The two witches were up in no time, disappearing even from their colleagues sights. After not even a couple of minutes Gwyn joined them again.

"First and second windows from the right, sir. She's reading on a couch. We weren't able to see her wand, but she's completely alone".

"Perfect. Everyone, up!"

He was one of the first to get up out the windows, enjoying the short flight the best as he could. And there she was, at best five years older than him, her back against a bookshelf and looking bored to death in a fancy library. Poor thing, uh? He clung on his wand and looked around: everyone's ready, Neville and Hermione at his side, as always. The three of them were the first to point their wands at the windows and cast a Reducto.

Glass shattered, wood broke and flew everywhere and Harry jumped from the Firebolt into the room, rolled and was up within seconds casting his best Expelliarmus in weeks. A perfect spell that went wasted, since Rowle had become the target of at least fourteen between stunners, disarming and bounding spells whose result was the witch being lifted and throw against the bookshelf before she could even grab her wand. Books start fell over her unconscious body from the whole wall of the library and Harry found himself stop them before they could bury her and shouting at his colleagues.

"Enough! Stop cursing! It's over!"

"ENOUGH!"

With his voice enchanted and a spark from the wand, it was Neville who shut everyone down. Harry took advantage of it to banish the books from Rowle and approach her. She was a mess. Bound by five or six different types of rope, hair on her face, robes cut. No wounds, luckily for her. Harry replaced that mess with a single, clean bounding spell and lifted her body.

"Make some space!"

Thirteen people moved out of his way and he could lay her on the carpet, her back against one of the untouched bookshelves.

"Gwyn, take our team and go find…"

"Potter! Longbottom!"

 _Chief!_

"Never mind, then"

Always first, Kingsley and Duncan were entering the room with half a team, dragging a tied up Damocles Rowle with them. He must have fought, though, because Harry spotted cuts and messy robes on some colleagues. He had expected him to call them names or complaining about having "no rights to invade" but the man was deadly silent, even if he looked murderous. He was put next to his sister and all the Aurors surrounded them, the team's commanders in the front row.

"Reinnerva" said Neville pointing his wand at Euphemia. The witch murmured something and regained consciousness; after few seconds of silent panic, though, she fell in the same obstinate silence as her brother.

Kingsley stepped forward "Hear me, Rowles. Last time you two escaped trial and Azkaban because you weren't compromised enough in Death Eaters activity, and now here we are: this manor shouldn't be here, shouldn't be hidden and surely not under such dark spells that took Ministry Aurors hours to dispel. This alone will be enough to warrant a few months imprisonment, but being actively involved in terrorist activities? That will cost you years. Now, make everything easier and start talking about this thing that's "growing well" and will be ready within years".

"There's nothing growing well here aside our plants, Minister" spat Damocles

"Whoever told you otherwise lied. I believe the Ministry still offer reward for Death Eaters? This so valuable spy of yours must need gold".

There was a tense, short silence. No one was buying it, obviously, and exposing Varya was out of question, but they still had to interrogate…

"So be it, then".

 _What? We must…_

"Four Auror will remain here with the prisoners. The rest of us will turn this manor inside out. Two or three people per team and scan every floor, room or corner". Without a second look at the prisoners Kingsley gestured at everyone to took off, joined his team and left the room.

 _Or we could just do this._

It took Harry few minutes to organize and split his team and after, checking they had their coin, he joined Terry and Neville at the doorway. They'd already sent their guys off and were waiting for him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Hermione and Syda talking with Chief and taking off. Good.

"The three of us as usual?"

"Yep, it's a consolidated tradition after all".

"Dunno about you guys, but I think we should start with the basement" said Terry

"I know that "evil secrets hidden underground" sounds like one of those fake, cliché reports by Skeeter but Death Eaters aren't exactly the most brightest of the world, are they?"

"Yeah" Harry agreed "Beside, the Malfoy really had every sort of dark arctifacts in theirs, cliché or not, so it's worth a look. Let's go".

* * *

Hermione Granger had a bad feeling about this. She and Syda were in a corridor on first floor, looking for the stairs to the attic, and nothing had yet attacked them. Call her paranoic, but if a bunch of Minister officers were not being attacked in a Death Eaters mansion, something was very wrong. Strangest of all things, she had the feeling the house had been made safer than usual. No precious or dangerous object were on sight (and they had been there, there were traces left), nothing cursed, and the few empy rooms they'd visited looked used and comfortable. Lots of pillows and blankets, everywhere.

"Hermione!" called Syda, few feet ahead of her "Hurry, I've found elves!"

She rushed at her side. Her friend was kneeling in front of two terrified elves and was trying to calm them.

"Please, you don't need to fear us. We mean you no harm. We're from the Ministry, the two of us help house elves, not harm them" Syda's voice was low, her tone reassuring, as if she was talking to a child or a scared creature. Her wand on the floor, nearer the elves than her, as a sign of good will. As she kept talking, Hermione took her time to observe the elves. As she expected of Rowle, they were wearing no real clothings but tatters, and the purple bruises on their arms and legs showed how much they've been brutalized. She knelt and joined her colleague.

"Look, I see your master doesn't treat you well, but you two, and all of your companions... you don't need her anymore. The mistreatment of house elves is illegal, has been since five years, and plenty other magical families will welcome you and offer you a job and a house. Your master doesn't deserve your loyalty, and I will see that she free you as soon as possible".

"You should really trust my friend, you know?" said Syda "She's Hermione Granger. It was her who fought for elves rights and passed the law".

One of the elves raised their head and looked at her, nonplussed "Madam is miss Granger? The friend of Dobby and Kreacher?"

Hermione smiled and nod "I am".

"We could get a different house? Where masters won't beat us?" their tone said everything, they couldn't believe it but wanted to.

"Yes. Our department will help you all find a new home".

After this, both of them looked uncomfortable. Time to prove her suspects.

"But what will happen to our masters?"

"They'll be arrested" _let's try this:_ "all of them"

The elves, just as she had hoped, didn't took it well.

"NO!" they were horrified "No, please! Missy..." they stopped, the words not coming out. A direct order was compelling them not to speak but they were fighting it "Missy... is innocent! She is nice! She...!" the spell catch up with them, but it was too late to hide the Rowles secrets. The damage had been done, and now Hermione had urgent things to do.

"It's alright, it's alright! We won't arrest her, alright? We'll help her" she leaned closer to Syda and murmured "Stay with them and try to find the others. I'll find this young one, whoever she is".

"Hermione, not alone!"

"There's no time. What if it's only a child and get lost in the grove? What if she hurt herself trying to escape? I have to do this, now". She turned to the elves

"Where can I find the stairs to the attic?"

She found herself running seconds later.

Right in front of me till the green door on the right, enter, new corridor, turn left at fouth painting, stairs right behind the corner.

It took her a couple of minutes, maybe, to find them: the mansion was huge but she'd run like crazy.

After two flight of stairs she found herself in another corridor, with few doors on both sides. No indication on which room was used, and no rumors at all. A Point me spell told her that the room she was looking for was on her left and recalling the position of the lit window, she went right for the first door. Remaining at one side of the door, out of spells or items reach, she murmured an Alohomora and the door opened. Silence. She recast Homenum Revelio and when the spell didn't detect a presence, she stepped out of her hiding spot, braced herself and entered the room.

* * *

"Reducto!"

The door of the basement exploded and Harry, Terry and Neville entered, shoulder to shoulder. It was empty, but that was the only good thing it'd be said about. The walls resembled Hogwarts's potion dungeons more than the Experimental spells department, with their large blocks of grey stone and shelves covered with stills, ingredients and small containers. Cauldrons of various sizes were scattered all across the basement, some of them with their potion still fuming. Out of four walls, one consisted in a library with peculiar contents; on some shelves Harry recognized papyrus scrolls and... clay tablets? Yep, clay tablets.

Then he noticed a floating glass-made pool in the center of the room, big enough for a child of Teddy's age. Harry averted his attention from of the library and rushed to it. The water (if that was water, and he doubted it) was stained with blood, and he almost crushed his wand. All around the pool were wooden tables covered with parchment, potions he couldn't recognized, bandages and other medicines. Among them, the same disinfecting potion he and Ginny used when James was hurt and he felt a bout of nausea. Disgusted, he approached the table at his right and found painkillers and sedatives, all doses suitable for children. What the hell were they doing here?

"Guys…"

"Harry, Terry, come here!"

The urgency in his voice made Harry turn with his wand ready for a curse, but he realized they were still alone.

"Harry!"

He ran straight to him, to the wall covered by the library. Neville was standing near another table and was holding pieces of parchment, his hand trembling. Few seconds and Teddy joined them, another parchment in his hands. When Neville realized they'd come he quickly tossed it at them, like he was holding poison.

"Read it, read it yourself, or I'll believe to be hallucinating".

 _As if all of this isn't looking horrifying enough._

The first sheet was a monthly schedule for… magical surgeries? Near the dates were noted the exact required quantities of a potion whose name he didn't recognize. It seemed the thing had to be introduced into the body through open wounds and the subject had to be conscious to be effective. He'd never heard of such a practice, it was barbaric. The second sheet, where he found his answers, made him shiver. The surgeries were needed to increase the magical potential of an individual. An ancient technique, it seemed, so that every single spell cast had the highest power, to made the subject a sort of super wizard. The notes went on about how magic flowed in the blood and adding a certain components into it would have… oh God. Human lives were one of the required components.

"This… it's almost the physical equivalent of an horcrux! Sacrifices and artificial manipulation not to live forever but to create a magical powerhouse" Harry felt the desire to laugh hysterically "What the hell is this? A plan to create a super wizard? How is that even possible?"

"Behold the dark wizards" Neville answered full of sarcasm "They figured out how to split the soul, go figure what they can do with the body, but go, go on"

Harry did. He did it, and, this time, he almost throw up.

"They did this to a four years old!?"

"Nope. They started when the child was four. Look at the dates: it's been ongoing for four years, they must be eight or nine now".

 _God almighty._

"I'm sorry mates, but I'm afraid there is worse" said Terry "I found this and two shelves of notes by the same hand. Looks like years of research worth of content but, to the point... I recognize the writing" he added handing it over.

 _No._

 _No, no, no, no!_

Harry grabbed the parchement and studied every word. He knew those "f", "a" and "h", the inclination of the writing, the middle age looking style. He had met it first at twelve and, years later, he'd spent months recognizing it in Death Eaters libraries.

"We need to call Kingsley. Now."

* * *

There was a child living in this house, Hermione was absolutely sure. The room she had found herself in had a floor covered by clothes, toys, stuffed animals and lots of books. And the sheets on the bed were pulled back, as someone had turned them up moments ago, ready for nightime.

 _Euphemia Rowle have no children. Who lives here?_

There! A noise of agitated bushes, right out of the open window, distracted her. She ran up to it and leaned, just in time to see a little figure jump out of the ivy trail and run away, right in the grove.

 _Why run?_

Oh, she wasn't liking any of this. At all. Ex Death Eaters, hidden houses and secret projects were enough to give her a horrible feeling, but elusive children who had no reasons to be in said house? That was much worse. She grabbed her broom from the enchanted bag and flew to the ground. Here, she stuffed it back and drew her coin. With a tip of her wand on her forehead and on the coin she sent the message "Granger, heading to the groove, I've found a child. Send others" and, for good measure, two talking Patronus with the same message were sent to Kingsley and Harry. Hermione faced the dark grove ahead, her wand out and ready. Dumbledore knew how all of this could turn out to be a trap. She murmured "lumos" and marched in after a brief rush. It looked like it was just a small, dense stand of trees, with very few spots for a dangerous beast to hide. Finally a good news.

 _If they've dared kidnap that child, then, I swear to Dumbledore…!_

Child that was nowhere to be found, truth to be told. Great, just great. This is getting worse at every minute.

She cast a simple tracking spell. and a thin, translucent gold line set off form the tip of her wand, reached the ground and went to her left, guiding her. Remaining alert of her surroundings, Hermione followed it through the trees, until she found herself in the open. She halted, unable to process what was in front of her.

The child was there, right in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by a sort of luminescent bubble, a magical shield without doubt. She was hugging close what looked like a glowing stuffed owl, her head turned the other way and visibly shaking in fear. But that wasn't all, oh no. All around the shield there were snakes, lots of them, and they were facing Hermione hissing furiously, as they were protecting the child.

 _It can't be._

She lowered her wand and stepped into the clearing, careful to approach very slowly and without sudden movements. "Little one" she called "I don't want to hurt you. I don't even know who you are. There is no need for the shield. I just want to know why you ran away"

It was the child's turn to shake the head.

"Please, go away. I've done nothing".

 _It's really a girl. Like Rose. She can't be older than ten._

"But you'll be alone" she said "It wouldn't be really nice of me to leave a child alone, would it?"

This seemed to resonate with her, and she finally turned to face Hermione. Long, curly black hair, dark eyes full of distrust and fear, fair complexion. She seemed well taken care off, overall, but, still, something was off.

 _Snakes!_

"It is not? Euphemia leave me alone a lot and I don't mind. I've got them, after all" she said, gesturing at her owl and the snakes.

 _Oh, God_.

"There's just you and miss Rowle, then? No other children? No grown up?"

 _Let's see if she's allowed some company._

The girl shook her head again "Nope. Just the two of us. Damocles three days per week, he's my teacher and help with the rituals. And the House elves. They're kind, I like them, but Euphemia say I shouldn't take animals into account" she paused and looked troubled "Whenever she find me with them she get really mad. I'm "disgracing myself", you see. And she usually doesn't scream at me".

Hermione was somewhere between anger, horror and amusement. Not that she expected Death Eaters to treat House Elves any differently, she had just saw how those were being abused, but at least the girl didn't seem to have inherited the attitude and once the ice had been broken she was quite the chatting type. That comment about rituals worried her, tho. Before she'd make another question, though, the child prevented her.

"No one ever come here. Are you… with the Ministry?" she was bracing herself, almost crushing the plush.

"Yes" she answered quietly, taking another step closer "Someone saw this house and miss Rowle putting a lot of dark spells around it" she lowered herself and tried look in the child's eyes, her wand raised to illuminate them both "This house is like a ghost. An unregistered, illegal ghost. We had to investigate".

"You weren't hunting for me, then?". Her relief was so evident that Hermione felt a painful sting.

 _Hunting?! What in the universe have they told this child!_

"We didn't knew about you, dear. The House Elves we've met mentioned a young miss, but we knew Euphemia Rowle had no children. I feared she could have kidnapped you... she's not exactly a very good person…" Oh, she had no idea how to introduce the subject "Well, do… do you know what a Death Eater is?"

The girl's eyes dilated and she retreated "Yes" she whispered "That's why I'm being hidden away. Mum was one. She was important. Euphemia always say I must remain hidden, or Potter will come. He…" she paused, and the shaking worsened

"He'll come and…" she was ventilating "and he'll kill me".

 _Rowle_! Hermione restrained her rage. She had to stay collected and calm, she had to. And no matter what, this child wasn't going to stay with the Rowles a day longer. She took another step closer to the girl, the snakes around them quiet.

"Look, I know Harry. Personally, I mean. Since we were 11. He will never, ever do such a thing. He is a dad himself, you see" It wasn't working "And… his godson, Teddy. He's almost your age. It'll feel like killing Teddy and Harry would rather sacrifice himself thousand times over that".

"There is more, than a high ranked Death Eather mum" she murmured, and Hermione braced herself.

 _Oh, who am I kidding? I knew it from the second I saw the snakes. Let's try take this from another point_.

"Is it about your surname?"

"I don't have one. It should be… Lestrange, but I don't think it is. I overheard Damocles, one day. And he said... he said no Lestrange could ever…" she went quiet.

It was Bellatrix, then. Of course it was her. Hermione had no idea what to say. She sat down, letting the child know she was staying with her, and waited.

Then, an almost imperceptible hiss came from the girl and all the snakes turned to her. Another hiss and all of them bar one retreated into the grove. She stretched a hand and that one crossed the shield straight to her, head up. The girl started petting it and looked up to Hermione.

"No Lestrange can talk with snakes" a pause "And I know what this mean. What Parseltongue mean. Potter will want to kill me. To even things out".

Hermione was shocked, she wouldn't dare say she wasn't. But this was pure, unulterated bullshit. Oh, she saw what the Rowles were trying to do here. Raise her alone, in fear and hate for Harry Potter and then unleash her into Britain. Monsters! And if she had only half the power her parents had had… a second enraged Riddle wasn't something Britain should have to face ever again. She tried a different approach.

"What is your name, dear? We still haven't introduced ourselves, have we?"

"Delphini. Delphi".

"Nice to meet you, Delphi. I am… Hermione Granger"

The girl left out a little scream and hugged her plush closely, distancing herself from Hermione. The snake rolled up unto the child's shoulders and hissed at Hermione. _Thank God this one is nowhere Nagini's size._

"No, no, look. I just want you to look at this and listen to me for few minutes, I promise. If after that you'll still be scared, I'll leave you alone and we'll find a different solution. Alright?"

"Yes" a murmur, but it was just what Hermione needed.

"Look at me, please"

When she had her attention, she open her gear a little, enough to show her neck.

"Can you see that little scar? Just right there" she said pointing it. Delphi looked confused but nodded, leaning closer to Hermione.

"During the war… your mum did this"

And Delphi jerked away again. She really believe I want to hurt her. Poor child.

"Please, just hear me out. Yes, she did, and yes, saying I didn't liked her would be an egregious misunderstanding. But here I am now, right in front of her child. And I don't want to hurt you, revenge, or "even things out" at all. I want to know if you are happy here, and if you are not, take you away. Give you a home, a real one, with people who will love you".

A long silence.

"But I _am_ their child, am I not?"

"Do you know who my parents are?" A mute no. Perfect. "They are Muggle Healers. And I work in the Ministry, I take care of Magical Creatures and their rights. Pretty different, don't you think? No child is a copy of their parents".

The child lowered her head and quietly petted her plush. The bubble protection became less solid looking, as it was about to dispel. After a while, Delphi raised her head, her expression one of mild hope.

"You don't… want to kill me?" she asked.

Hermione sat upright, presented herself as resolute as she could and looked right in her eyes. This moment was crucial.

"I do not".

Delphi's shoulder relaxed, she was actually believing her!

"You'll take me away from here?"

"I will".

Hermione saw tears forming in her eyes. Few seconds later the shield was gone and she was being hugged as strong as a child could. Hermione sighed with relief and hugged her back. She noticed the snake (when had it get out of her shoulders?) was eyeing her, wary and protective, but not hissing anymore.

 _Seems like I passed the test, uh?_

Muffled sobs made her attention shift from the snake to the girl. Hermione started pet Delphi's head quietly and murmur soothing words, repeating "It's alright, it's over, we'll take care of you" over and over. It was quite surreal: she, the Mudblood, comforting Voldemort's child, in the middle of a night, with dozens of snakes lurking around. She raised her head and admired the starry sky for few moments. It was new Moon, but here, away from the cities lights and under the protective spells, countless stars were illuminating the clearing. Now that she had time to notice, it was a beautiful night. _Fitting to find a lost Black_ , she chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi!**

 **Here we go with chapter two, following a tentative monthly schedule. I also edited the abysmal formatting in chap 1, now it's way more legible (apologies, I'm not really used to ).  
**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2**

 **We were born in a cage**

* * *

Kingsley Shacklebolt wasn't amused, no sir, he wasn't amused at all. Everything had been going on quite well until Harry James bloody Potter had called him. And now here he was, in the umpteenth gross basement of his life, with three of his best young Aurors upset and shaking and the evidence of yet another Voldemort's monstrosity in his hands.

 _Forced alteration of someone's magic, for Merlin's sake. Sometimes I regret we burned the bastard, there's no grave to spat on._

"All right" he said. Now it was time to act as a leader and reassure his men, to fully fall back in his Chief's shoes. He raised his voice and turned to face his team "Everyone..."

A couple of quiet light blue spheres of light appeared in the middle of the room. As they moved near him and Harry, they turned into otters: Hermione's Patroni, most likely. They rose in front of them and, as he'd predicted, her voice came out.

"Granger, heading to the groove, I've found a child. Send others".

 _What. Did. She. Just. Said._

When the meaning of the message took roots in his brain, Kingsley found himself extremely tempted to walk right to the Rowle siblings and repeatedly kick their asses. But he was the Minister, and he couldn't.

"Everyone, get your extensive trunks and start pack every single thing in this basement. I want everything, and I repeat, everything, classified and safely packed to be moved back to the HQ. Don't touch or read anything, we'll have time for that when we'll be back and safe. Be extremely careful when you move something, and don't forget..."

"Scanning and protective spells, yes chie... Minister. Yes, sir".

He nodded, his face emotionless.

"Exactly. You three" he added gesturing at the trio "with me, now".

He made sure they were following him and marched out. He was _fuming_.

They remained silent till they made the first story, which was in a disastrous state. The mansion has been raided and there wasn't a single piece of furniture in place. In a corner, the guys of the Creatures Dep were talking to the mansion's elves and Adrisi run to them as soon as she spotted their group.

"Minister! I'm sorry sir, I'm sorry, I couldn't stop her..."

"She sent a Patronus, we're informed. And we're going to help her at once, you can join. The five of us will do".

She looked taken aback and so did everyone else present. Duncan shot him a murderous look in the likes of "don't you bloody dare" and Kingsley braced himself: he would've had to fight.

* * *

Delphi had calmed down in the last minutes and now was curling quietly in Hermione's arms. She waited a little more and then petted her head to get her attention.

"We should join my colleagues now, Delphi. We could get your things and show the elves you're safe before leaving, how does it sound?"

"Won't I be recognized? I'd rather avoid it"

"Not even Harry could guess who you are, dear, and I'm not going to tell him. Everyone will expect you to be scared and wary of us, so even if you'll look uncomfortable no one will suspect a thing".

 _Fortunately, she doesn't quite look like Bellatrix from what I remember: all the better_.

"'kay. Can we get my pets too?".

Hermione sighed inwardly "Of course. Call them and tell them to get into my trunk, I'll have it ready". When Delphi jumped out of her arms, took a few steps in the clearing and started hissing, Hermione raised to her feet. With a flick of her wand she summoned the trunk from her bag and restored it to its original size; a second flick, a non verbal Alohomora and the trunk opened, ready to accommodate the animals.

She gave it a quick check in and turned to Delphi, smiling shyly, surrounded by one, two...

"Ten? This is all?"

Both child and snakes nodded.

 _Oh, Merlin_.

She suppressed an awkward smile and gestured at the trunk. A short hiss, and the animals quickly crawled in the container. Just one of them, the one that had previously been on the child's shoulders, stopped before entering and took a second to stare at her, hissing menacingly. Maybe she couldn't understand Parseltongue, but the meaning of that stare was universal: "You hurt her, you gotta deal with me later".

"Let me guess, Delphi" she said "Is this little one particularly affectionate?"

"He's been staying with me since I can remember" The child moved closer and petted its head for a while before urging it inwardly. She closed the trunk herself and stood in front of it for few minutes, her hands fisted and her shoulders slightly trembling. Hermione didn't pushed and it didn't take long until Delphi turned to her, distressed but determined.

"Shall we go, then?"

"We..." the noise of a broken branch, on their left, cut her off "wait".

She jumped in front of the child, wand drawn and ready for her fastest curse. She was rehearsing her spells when a familiar face stepped into the clearing, his wand nowhere to be seen, her friends behind him looking at her with relief and exasperation.

"Hermione Granger, you _reckless_ witch. And I thought Duncan had made himself clear".

She lowered her wand and managed to put on a little apologetic smile instead of the wide one she was tempted to do.

"Kingsley. Great to see you received my message. As you can see" and she moved slightly to her left, allowing Delphi to be noticed "it was worth it".

His eyes widened and Syda swore so loudly against the Rowle Hermione was surprised she didn't scared half the grove's birds. She and the child were surrounded within seconds, but luckily the others kept a bit of distance so Delphi didn't feel threatened when Terry and Syda knelt down and tried talking to her. She was busy trying to casually shield her from Harry's sight so she didn't payed much attention to them and immediately tried to engage her friend to distract him. Then, she noticed. Even if her body was hiding Delphi quite well and the girl was giving him only her back, Harry was staring at what little of her he could see with a horrified expression.

 _He can't have recognized her._

"Harry?" she tried.

"Her arms". His voice was rough as on the verge of... rage? Why? Also, what about Delphi's arms, they were quite alright.

She shot a look at Kingsley for an explanation but was met by a similar expression, so she turned, puzzled, and froze as much as them. Delphi was stretching her arms forwards in front of Syda and Terry, the sleeves turned up to the elbows: her forearms were completely covered by bandages, with bloodstains here and there.

"Delphi, what... what is this? Why didn't you told me you were injured?"

The girl turned to her "It's alright, I need this. Looks bad but it helps me"

Hermione tried to argue but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. When she looked up, Kingsley was shaking his head and pointing a spot quite removed from them. She took the hint, dropped the conversation with a smile and followed him.

When they were at safe distance from overhearing, Kingsley started talking. Forbidden books and texts. Experiments. Manipulations. Surgeries. Potions into open wounds. Ongoing process.

Hermione felt sick and had to lean on the closest tree, to hold on it. Horror aside, this complicated everything on a practical level. Medical check-in were in order after such revelation, which meant more people knowing about Delphi and making close contact with her. She had promised she wouldn't have told Harry and she wasn't going to, but this was bigger than the both of them and not a secret she could keep for herself. If she wanted to protect the girl and keep a resurgence of Death Eaters at bay, she was going to need help.

"I need to tell you something too, and you won't like it"

"Her parents were killed and she was kidnapped, and now she have nowhere to go, I guess" offered Kingsley with a sad smile "It's horrible and rest assured, I'll throw the Rowles in jail for years for this, but at least, as difficult as it will be for the child, I'm sure we will find plenty of families happy to take her in. Hell, aren't Adrisi and her wife looking for adoption?"

Oh poor Kingsley.

"She's got nowhere to, her parents are dead and you'll throw the Rowles in jail: true. But no casual family will take her and we need to handle this in the most cautious way ever or it will explode in our faces, and badly" Hermione left her resting spot on the tree and looked right in his eyes "Her parents left her with Euphemia, before the Battle".

Here, she halted. Telling another person was going to make it more real, a concept she would've have dismissed as a "badly drunken Rita theory" not even four hours before.

"She's Bellatrix's child. _Voldemort's_ child".

Unsurprisingly, he didn't took it well.

"Like hell she is. Come on, Hermione, there's a time for jokes and it's not this"

"She's been named after a star like a Black, and she's a _Parselmouth_. And I've got ten snakes, her pets, in my trunk, if you want to check it out later".

 _And in case Andromeda will ever be willing to undergo the DNA test I have no doubt about the outcome._

Kingsley put a hand over his face and stood there, speechless. Sadly, Hermione didn't have much to offer to comfort him.

"Zero chances there was a british parselmouth who wasn't Voldemort, uh?"

"Who had a daughter in 1998, left his child with Death Eaters, was close to Voldemort enough that he studied how to increase a child's -not his own- magical outcome and disappeared right when Voldemort did?" she tried not to sound too sarcastic, as she could understand his need for denial.

"Yeah, that's even more ridiculous" Still shocked, Kingsley removed his hand and shacked his head. When he looked up again, though, his most determined expression was back in charge "Alright. First things first: let's finish this raid and then we'll take care of the child"

* * *

Delphi was wondering if she was really awake or still sleeping. Or, as Euphemia used to say, her mind had finally snapped and she had been hallucinating for the last hour.

Her worst nightmare had come, the Ministry in her only safe place, Potter and The Mudblood -miss Granger! she screamed at her inner self- had been in front of her... and she was still alive, nor has she been thrown to the Dementors. Yet. There were Aurors everywhere in the house and no one had thrown a single curse her way. No one knew of Father, sure; but it was mind blowing all the same. Potter's best friend had offered to take her away. Her. Away! And she'd saved her pets. Said she would've seen to Effie and the others getting homes with good masters. She had just taken Delphi to the library where they'd retrieved all her favorite books, blankets and stuff and now was accompanying her, this very moment, to her room, to get the rest of her belongings.

 _I don't want to wake up._

With miss Granger behind her, Delphi climbed the last steps of the staircase and darted into her room, its messy state familiar and comforting. Having to leave it would be her only regret: she'd been safe here.

 _Get yourself together!_ she reminded herself. Without wasting another minute, she pat the owl's head two times and reduced its size enough to stuff it in her pocket: she was going to need her hands free.

"Clever trick, that one" commented Granger. She had moved at her side and had her trunk on the floor, open and waiting. She was still smiling, and Delphi couldn't help but lower her eyes before murmuring "Father's present" and rushing to collect her things.

But Granger reached her again. And put a hand on her head, and said "Don't apologize child", and offered to help her pack with magic. Delphi was so astonished that her mouth gave instruction, her hands pointed where they needed to, but her mind wasn't there.

 _I don't want to wake up. Please, please, don't wake me up._

She shook her head and joined Granger. The witch was emptying her wardrobe and the books were already in the trunk, so she went after the toys. That had to be said about Damocles and Euphemia, or Mother's husband, if he had a say in her life: they gave her everything she asked regarding toys or books. She had a stuffed version of almost every magical creature from Scamander's Fantastic Beasts volume, and even some from his other books about american and african creatures. She was quite proud of her Nundu, even if it was bigger than her, and the Thunderbird was simply stunning. Take the plush, shove it into the trunk. Plush, trunk; plush, trunk, many times. The more she removed from the room, the more the idea she was going to leave the manor for good sounded real.

"Delphi, I need to leave for a moment, wait for me, alright?"

"Sure"

She didn't even turn. _I wonder why she keeps asking me permission. Maybe it's a muggle thing?_ She shrugged and went on moving her things in the trunk, and smiled to herself when she heard footsteps coming in. When they halted, though, she stiffened instinctively.

"Oops. Sorry kid, have you seen Hermione?"

Ah, never mind, just one of miss Granger coworkers. A friend, probably, since they were on a first name base. It was exciting, having new people to talk with. She wanted to do well and make a good impression, so she put her best smile on and turned to the wizard. And then she froze in terror.

 _No._

 _No._

 _Go away._

The one waiting on the threshold wasn't just "one" of Granger's friend, it was Potter. She recognized him on the spot: his features had had been ingrained in her mind for years. She had already met him at the grove, true, but they'd been apart all the time so, back then, thanks to that and Granger and the other presences, she had been able to control her reactions. But now they were alone and his wand was drawn.

 _He knows. He knows. He knows._

 _He's gonna kill me._

 _Help._

Her breath became erratic, her legs feeble; she took a step back, and another, and another, till her back rested against the wall. She had nowhere to go. Her whole body was shaking now, her breath so bad she started ventilating. Delphi closed her eyes to calm down, but it was a poor choice. Now she was so focused on herself that all she could feel was her heartbeat gone mad, the ragged breath, the shaking, the nails cutting into the palms.

"No, no, no, child, please, calm down. Breathe. I'm not here to hurt you. I'll never."

Something in that wording sounded so awfully familiar that it broke through her panic for a moment. It was one of her two first memories.

" _Calm down, child. We'll soon be back"_

 _Liar_

Her kneels hit something hard - the floor? Had she collapsed?- but the twinge of pain seemed so distant she barely acknowledged it and immediately curled up on herself, hands on her head.

"Oh Merlin, what have I done? Child, please. Please, don't be afraid".

She heard his footsteps approaching and curled up even more tightly than before.

"No. No, no, nonono. Don't kill me, don't kill me, dontkillme" the words weren't even getting out clearly. Tears of fear and self-rage were flowing down her cheeks. Her parents would've been so disappointed in her.

"DELPHI! Harry, get out!"

"Herm, I swear, I didn't..."

"I know, I know, just get out, now!"

Someone else rushed into the room and after few seconds Delphi was being held and hugged. It was miss Granger again. After a brief firm hug, her hold became softer, more cuddling. She was also tapping on Delphi's head with her fingers. Funny, but unexpectedly soothing: she could feel her body relaxing, the terror fading away as the tapping (and hugging) went on. Hermione was murmuring lots of "shh" and "it's alright, he's gone, he didn't knew". And doing a lot of cuddling, on top of the "tapping Delphi's head" thing. Slowly, Delphi uncurled herself and hugged the woman, the tears still flowing being now ones of gratitude.

After enjoying a little more cuddling she distanced herself a little, wiped off the remaining tears and looked up at miss Granger: she owned her an explanation.

"He was alone, his wand was drawn, I thought he knew, I thought he wanted..." so much for trying to put herself together "I lost control and I shouldn't have: my apologies".

In fact, it was embarrassing how much she had. She had even forgot to use her owl when he would've easily protected her. Forget Father, even Euphemia would've been disappointed. Now that she wasn't perceiving danger anymore and was able to think, the terror she'd felt looked more and more as a flaw and an inappropriate behavior. She had freaked out less in the grove and, worst of all, if Potter didn't knew before now he was bound to have some questions.

"Delphi, look at me". Miss Granger had a strange voice, very firm. Puzzled, she did as told. The witch expression was as firm as her voice and reminded her of that moment in the grove.

"Never think of yourself that way again. You are eight. A child. Being scared of someone you think could hurt you is not a weakness. It is not so for an adult, imagine someone as young as you, and I bet they've been using him as a boogie man for years. Hell, being scared in general is not a weakness. It's not something you should feel ashamed of, at all".

Now, this just didn't made any sense. "Fear is not a weakness", go figure.

"But... I didn't even reacted: I just crumbled where I was. I was useless. I _was_ weak".

"That could be a reasonable self criticism... for a trained adult. You're not even ten" her voice lowered here, her look softened "The adults in your life should be the ones protecting and comforting you at this age, not teaching you "i must be strong because no one else will came"".

 _Oh_.

"That said, at this moment I'm probably just confusing you. What if we discuss about this later?"

And back again at asking for her permission or opinions. How did it worked, she was eight so allowed to be weak... and at the same time, she was eight and adults asked for her opinion on important matters? Miss Granger was right, it was extremely confusing and Delphi was happy to nod and drop the subject for the time being.

To better hide her embarrassment, she made one last check tour around the room. The wardrobe and the bathroom were empty, she couldn't even find a lone sock. It was the same for her library (she double checked just in case) and the old desk, drawers included. She also checked under the bed, where she used to keep some spared food for Effie, Sif and the others, for those moments when Euphemia came to forbid them their meals. Elves couldn't defy the direct order "do not eat your lunch", "no meals" or even "no food from the kitchen for days", but Delphi could outflank them and had in fact done so a lot of times. She told as much to miss Granger when the woman questioned her crawling under the bed and resurfacing with a bunch of sweets and half eaten sandwiches and didn't missed how satisfied she looked.

 _Good. It probably means they'll be in good hands with her_.

Anyway, now she was completely sure the room had been cleaned. Now. She just had to leave, right? Just step out of the threshold and bye-bye. Miss Granger was already at the door, smiling and holding out her hand.

"I'm coming" she murmured.

She halted and looked back, just one last time. Karna's concealed nest near her bed, her drawings on the walls (she usually tried not to look at 3 to 5 old self's sketches, but today she could afford it), the shape and colors of the furnitures, with their scratches and paint stains, her beloved tiny library, now empty; the enchanted old sandbag abandoned in the corner near the bathroom's door. She took a long, deep breath and finally turned, running to miss Granger and taking her hand. The witch smiled and they headed together for the stairs.

* * *

It looked like the raid was going on smoothly.

Hermione was standing out of the manor's threshold, a bit on the left, with the child; so she had a good view on what was happening. Syda and one of the newest recruits were talking with the group of elves, while the rest of their colleagues supervised the surroundings and the grove with their wands drawn and ready.

Even the Aurors were split, with four veterans guarding the prisoners (who, after a initial display of shock upon seeing Delphi at her side were now acting like neither of them existed), Kingsley, Head Duncan and Neville talking to each other and writing down something on a parchment and, bar a couple or two assisting her colleagues on the guarding duty, generally busy amassing the seized items out of the cellar. Someone had blasted a hole in one of the room walls, out of spite, most likely, and she could see Harry, Terry and the others putting everything in a previously set up protected area. One made for inanimate objects only, she noticed. Funny. A safe apparition spot would've been better; quicker and safer for both the personal and the items. From a chat she'd casually overheard, though, there were some odd anti human countermeasures in place and the only team left waiting outside was still figuring out a way to outflank them.

Hermione wanted to join Syda, to do more, to have the elves meet Delphi and being reassured of her well being, but Kingsley had been irremovable: "Keep yourself and the child out of trouble", he'd ordered.

So here they were: just sitting, watching and, in Hermione's case, sometimes waving her hand in a greeting and exchanging looks or shrugging her shoulders when someone happened to stop by and shoot a curious look at Delphi (both she and Kingsley had already done their best to spread the "probably muggleborn and kidnapped, no previous memories" version, but, well, people were curious).

"Potter! Boot! To me at once!" yelled Duncan.

Grateful for the distraction she followed her friends running from the cellar to him and–

And her vision went white, her eyes hurting as she'd looked right in the sun. Hermione left out a scream and covered her face with her hands. What happened?

She was completely blinded. All she could sense were moans of pain all around her and Delphi's little body curled up against hers. Hermione covered both her eyes with one hand and grabbed the child with the other to reassure her and was barely starting to think about a course of action when a horrible scream of pain and a feral roar froze her mind.

The blinding light went away and she blinked through the tears to get a hold of her surroundings, all while different screams joined the first and yells, calls and spell incantations started piling on each other.

She perceived a black veil falling on her sight, protecting her eyes while providing a safer way to look outside and finally Hermione was able to reopen her eyes and look.

The veil was a protective bubble coming from Delphi's stuffed owl. She was shaking and trembling on her feet but nonetheless standing in front of the older witch. One glance at the situation was enough for Hermione to put her hands on the child's shoulders and push her behind her back in a second.

An adult, full-fledged chimaera was standing in the clearing, a human arm in its jaws, the rest of the body at its feet. The beast's paws were soaking in a pool of blood.

The chimaera was bigger than it should've been, more about the size of a horse than a lion. Irregular, glowing red lines crossed its whole body from the black mane to the snake tail, making the creature look even more terrifying. Its lion half was covered in white scars in a way that reminded Hermione of the Gringott's dragon long ago.

All around it, Aurors and Creat Dep officers alike were in disarray. Scattered, their circles broken, some were holding their wounded limbs or their colleagues and most of them were on their knees or getting up with difficulty on that very moment. The creature roared again, the red lines suddenly blazing as alive, and jumped against a shielded colleague, a veteran. Hermione waited for the beast to be repelled, but the shield crushed and the chimaera mauled the wizard. A spell that Hermione recognized as specifically anti chimaera hit the creature. It should've stunned it at least for a moment or make it retreat, but it was completely shrugged off. She crossed Syda's gaze by chance and saw her own incredulous horror.

Hermione snapped out of her panic when the creature jumped back to the first victim, sank its jaws deeper in the arm and _chopped_ it and the only noise higher than the auror's agonizing scream was the chimaera's roar.

She drew her wand and added a double, moving protection around them, grabbed Delphi and started retreating towards the mansion's open door. Spells and curses and yells and orders began piling again, the only clear ones those coming from Kingsley and Head Duncan, organizing their forces.

Other shields, way stronger than Protego, rose from the wands of the not wounded. All her colleagues stood ahead while the Aurors were tasked first aid and protection. She saw Syda, the horror replaced by rage and decision, emerging from Harry's shield and cast an anti giant curse, being the first to inflict damage to the creature and making it retreat from the auror's body, promptly summoned to safety by someone else.

A whole set of similar curses managed to finally wound one of the chimaera's feet and the creature, caught during a jump, curled up and then fell sprawled against a protection, finally unable to destroy it.

Meanwhile Hermione and Delphi had made it to the door and as soon as they were safely in the building she headed for the stairs to the first floor, the child trotting behind her, her little hand shaking in Hermione's. There was something the two of them could do to help, but they had to get completely out of sight before attempt.

"Delphi, do you know a room with a good view on the clearing? Better, one where we can see but not been easily spotted by others?"

"S– sure" she ran ahead, dragging Hermione with her into a little, abandoned study. They ran to the single window and glanced down at the clearing. Things weren't going well. Hermione saw three other bodies, bleeding and abandoned, and the chimaera jumping from one spot to another, restless, making itself almost impossible to capture or immobilize.

"Delphi" she said, her eyes scanning the beast "are you absolutely sure no one will see?".

"One hundred percent, miss. The window is charmed, we could open it and from the outside it will still look like a wall".

 _Perfect._

She knelt down and looked in the girl's eyes "We need to distract the animal long enough for my friends to stop it for good. I've got a plan but I need your help to make it work". Delphi nodded and Hermione went on "I need you to talk to it. It doesn't matter what you say, just keep it talking and distracted so the others can bring it down".

"How… oh. Right, the tail. But will it hear me from here? Aren't we too far away?"

Hermione smiled "I'll enchant both your voice and the tail's with a Sonorus, it will hear you loud and clear. And while you'll speak from here, I'll be in the next room throwing very flashy spells at it and making a lot of noises. It will look like I'm the one distracting the beast, and no one will be able to understand there are two sources of hiss. Also, Harry can't speak it any longer, he's a non issue" she added.

Delphi remained silent for few moments, hugging her plush, her hands nervously scratching the bandages. One, two long ragged breaths and she nodded, first to herself and then to Hermione.

"I can do it. I want to help".

"Good girl" she praised, running a hand on her hair. Hermione really hoped Lestrange and Voldemort were looking, from whatever circle of Hell they were. _Serves you right._

She rose from the floor, opened the window with a quick flick and gazed down. The chimaera was currently under multiple attacks and confined into a corner of magic made walls. They wouldn't have lasted for long, but it was enough for Hermione to target the tail and hit it perfectly with a non verbal Sonorus. She repeated the spell on the child and instructed her to wait for a signal to start talking: Hermione's first flash spell would've done nicely.

A mutual nod, and the witch ran to the other room and it's window, smashing it open. The chimaera's hissing were already audible. Exactly what she wanted.

Her first spell was a combination of light and sound, right in the creature's face. The tail turned in her direction not even a second after, hissing and shaking the snake's head and looking generally distressed, and she knew Delphi had began. She smiled. Enjoy, Bellatrix.

From that moment on, Hermione's mood improved by every minute.

Her spells were doing their job nicely, in keeping the lion's head distracted and being a cover, and soon the tail's distress spread to the whole body, which started missing the targets, slowing down and staying in a single spot for more time. The wizards attacks became more precise and the curses stronger, now that the danger of hitting a comrade had decreased. Multiple wounds appeared on the creature's body, focused on its legs and paws.

The red lines on the chimaera began blazing like never before, and the animal reared up while trying to bite itself, screaming as in pain. It tried another attack, and another, but it was repelled. The lines then began fuming and this time the chimaera used its paws to repeatedly scratch them, the wizards forgotten. It didn't accomplish much, except adding more bleeding wounds and falling to the ground, moaning and writhing in pain. The tail turned once more to the mansion, reaching and almost… imploring.

For the first time, Hermione felt bad for the creature. It looked in agony, and it wasn't the wizards doing. They had taken the opportunity when the beast had fell for the first time and built a cage around it and were now improving it, adding levels and levels of additional spells to make it last, but they weren't hitting the beast any longer.

"Miss Granger!"

Delphi had ran into her room, panting, and looked extremely distressed "Tell them to stun her!" a breath "The lines are carved orders to not to stop until every enemy is dead and now are killing her because she's failing the task!".

"But…" began Hermione, and she was about to say "it's safer if it die", when the child approached her, a unreadable look in her eyes.

"Please" she plead "she's just one of Father's experiments. Damocles kept it chained and starving since I was brought here" _Oh, for.._. "She said she was created to keep me here and safe, it's my fault if she's suffering".

 _Which is to say, they're more alike than she know._

Hermione pointed the wand at herself, cast her third Sonorus of the evening and lean out of the window, shouting an edited version of Delphi's message. The Aurors didn't look convinced, but many of her colleagues had worked with or even only met mister Scamander. Bring down a human-eating creature was always a possibility on their job, but he'd shaped many of them into being open to different choices.

A dozen improved Stunners hit the creature all at once; one, two, three times. The chimaera collapsed under the sixth wave, the lines not twisting its body anymore, the wounds beginning their natural healing process.

Her friends and colleagues cheering, Harry shouting something in the likes of "Hermione Granger you damned genius get back here, I wanna hug you to death" and a smiling Delphi were enough for Hermione's bottled up stress to disappear at once, leaving her feeble on her legs but bubbling with happiness. And just a sane bit of spiteful satisfaction at certain absents's sake.

* * *

They were counting the casualties, down in the clearing. Two dead and thirteen injured, some in critical condition, Gwyn from Harry's team among them. Richard and his men had abandoned their position out of the mansion's barrier and were now helping, them, the two groups of healers they'd summoned from St. Mungo and a fresh group from the Creat Dep tasked to guard the chimaera.

Hermione had checked in with Kingsley, then left Delphi with the elves and a bruised Syda (the child had been quite vocal about not wanting to part with her and only a "familiar" face had convinced her to let go of Hermione's gear) and she'd joined Terry and a little group of Aurors in a search for the prisoners. The Rowle siblings had taken advantage of the situation as soon as they'd been able too, as expected, found a way to freed themselves (the Aurors guarding them had been among the first attacked by the chimaera, not by chance, she suspected), and had fled the mansion. But one of them had been wounded, their blood now glowing under Terry's revealing spell.

Hermione ran ahead while following the traces, distancing her colleagues. Soon, she found herself staring at Euphemia Rowle's lying body, wounded as a sectumsempra or a similar curse had hit her. The woman had already lost a lot of blood but was still breathing, her lips moving. Hermione shouted to her friend to bring healers and knelt down to her side, frantically scanning her memories for a first aid spell able to stop such damage. The woman didn't seem to notice her; she was crying, and imploring.

"Rodolphus I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" a cough "Brother, don't— I know" another "—should've hide her better, forgive me…"

"Healers, _hurry_!"

Rowle went on for a little while yet, always apologizing to both the Lestrange. On how she'd become bitter, resenting them, but had never wanted "them" to find their child.

 _Oh, man, she didn't know._

"Miss Granger, out of the way"

The healers had finally catch up with her and shove her aside, surrounding the woman and starting their treatments. She let them be, but murmured a silencing spell on the woman. She couldn't risk to expose the child, even if only as Bellatrix's.

Ten, or maybe fifteen minutes after the healers took a step back from the now much better looking but still unconscious woman, all looking exhausted but satisfied.

"Well, we did it. Let's hope she pass the night".

"Excuse me" she asked "what…"

"We managed to keep her alive, miss Granger, but she went into a coma. Once hospitalized, we'll be able to do much better".

Syda's worried voice coming from behind them and a younger, angry one distracted her from the healer's following words.

"Lemme go, let - me - go!"

Hermione turned and saw Delphi coming in their direction too late to stop her: in the time it took her to get up the girl had already arrived and knelt beside Euphemia's body. She was blinking repeatedly, though Hermione couldn't say if it was because the shock or an attempt to pull back tears. She silently pleaded to the healers to leave them some privacy for few moments and they were kind enough to indulge her.

"I didn't liked her too much, you know." she said "she had made clear she was keeping me in for Rodolphus's gold and Damocles's threats years ago and I stopped trying to win her affection".

Much to Hermione's horror, the child put her hands on the woman's blood soaked robe and patted it.

"No, don't touch..."

"It's alright" she interrupted "Not the first time I see so much blood"

 _What._

"Damocles was kinder, usually. But I never..." she paused, tears now silently streaming down "I never wanted this. Sometimes he got mad during the lessons and the rituals were so painful... Euphemia used to tend my arms after the worst ones. Sometimes she even stayed with me while I cried. 't was her who gave me my blankets. I never wanted her to die".

She was openly sobbing now, and Hermione was smart enough to hug and held her before she could get to hug Rowle. This child had had already too many traumas to add "cover yourself in your guardian's blood" to the list. Now that she had her in her arms, Hermione took her chance and moved both of them out of the healers way, grateful for their patience.

Could she explain "coma" to the girl? Most likely, given the right wording; but she wasn't sure adding another painful knowledge would've been of help in this moment. And for all she knew, Rowle's survival wasn't assured.

Hermione spotted a quiet corner to sat and settled down, Delphi now a little more quiet. Her friends came for a word or a pat on the shoulder, but they mostly left them in peace.

In the meantime, the witch's eyes were firmly on Rowle's body, her mind trying to find some sense in the older woman's behavior. Hermione had heard Harry's tales of the Dursley's brutality, of course, and the work for the elves rights had exposed her to many types of mistreat and abuse. This mixture of neglect and begrudged attempts at caring was something she hadn't yet encountered. Because of her young age, no doubt: she was sadly sure there were countless of such cases in the world, but this one had been her first personal experience... and it had been horrible. She suddenly turned her gaze away from the woman and pointed it at the stars. Much better.

Hermione loathed Euphemia Rowle, make no mistake. But now she could't help but wonder if she hadn't been damaged herself. First a victim of her family, then taking her pain and hatred on a innocent child, and yet, somehow, still able to gather some kindness.

Oh, how she wanted to have Damocles in custody right now...

"Herm...?" Syda's voice interrupted her thoughts and brought her back in the here and now.

"...Yes?"

"First aid is done, packing's done; we're leaving for London" she pointed at the teams gathered in the park; the stacks of seized items and the beast'a cage, ready to be moved; Euphemia in a levitating stretcher. Hell, even Rowle's pet Augurey was there, ready to leave.

"The Minister told me the girl have to be seen by healers... and you could really use a strong relaxing potion. Would you like me to see you both to Mungo's?"

Hermione let a sigh of relief escape her. Yes, yes she wanted to go somewhere safe, to get Delphi her first help and to lie down. To call Ron right away and have him tell her he and Rose were safe at their home. It didn't made much sense, she knew it, but being angry, scared and so, so tired had never been a good moment for her to be rational.

Syda had to help her stood, for her legs had fall asleep and Delphi was way heavier than she was used to lift. She had fell asleep as well, poor creature, curled up in Hermione's arms like a porcupine (she did it frequently, Hermione noticed), her eyes red and puffy. Once firmly on her legs again, Hermione smiled grateful at her friend.

"I'd love it, please come with me" she said.

After a quick hand-wave at Kingsley to notify him, the two women rotated on their spot and disapparated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Is this a monthly-release schedule being respected? It is!**

 **Now, a word or two of advice before: it's more packed with dialogue and exposition stuff than the previous two but the infos are all vital for the whole arc and story. This chap is a "necessary evil", in a way.**  
 **Second and more important, there will be mention and discussion of child abuse.**  
 **Nothing particularly graphic, but it occupies quite the spotlight in the central part of the chapter so better to be warned about it.**

 **As usual, enjoy the chapter and comments and critics always welcome'd :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3**

 **Pain will come**

* * *

Two hours and half had passed since she'd arrived at St Mungo's A&E. Hermione was resting on a comfortable armchair, a mug of hot chamomile in her hands, her eyes closed. The headache that had attacked her on her arrival was gone, Ron had been called and reassured (well, more or less. She'd still called past 3am) and Delphi had been accompanied to the surgery Hermione was now in front of hours ago. She only had to wait and rest.

Kingsley had showed up a couple of times and tried to wait for the visit's end with her, to no avail: he'd been requested somewhere else every time. Hermione really wouldn't have wanted to be in his shoes right now. The hospital was so warm, after all, and she'd completed all her tasks. Surely she could concede herself a little nap?

"Herm" said a familiar voice from her right.

 _Apparently, no._

"Hermione. Please"

 _Alright, alright._

She opened her eyes and looked up. All patched up, with the wand's arm resting on a scarf and his hair more ruffled than usual, Harry was looking at her with a troubled expression.

"Sorry" he said "Syda told me I could've find you here and... damn" he paused, unsure.

Hermione remained silent, waiting for him to continue. But Harry dodged the topic. "How's the kid doing?"

"No idea. No healer have left the surgery since they went in, so... it can be bad or mostly alright and they just want to check everything they can. Or both" _Let'_ _s try to distract him a little more._ "The

chimaera? Heard anything about Rowle?"

"I've heard they moved it directly to the Scamanders sanctuary. And Rowle... well', she's till in coma, but not in direct mortal danger anymore. She'll survive. Last time I saw him, Duncan was organising watch shifts for her room. He was also shouting at the poor healers to "move their asses" and find a way to wake her and their Head was royally pissed with him".

Poor healers. The Auror's Head tantrums were so legendary even Mad-Eye would've been proud. She chuckled, grateful for the distraction.

"But anyway, I didn't come for this"

Unsurprisingly, but she kept feigning ignorance.

"Herm, what the hell happened at the manor?" he pressed "I mean, disliking me? That's accounted for, I doubt any ex Death Eater families weave my praises to their kids. But she acted as if I wanted to kill her. That's quite extreme, isn't it?"

"Well, you've seen them. Damocles unleashed that beast and was willing to kill his own sister to not let us discover his secrets. He's probably been painting you as a boogie man for years" she reasoned.

"A boogie man doesn't trigger a panic attack, come on. It was something else. It was... personal" Harry was clearly missing the bigger picture, but of this he was sure, she could tell that much by his tone and expression.

 _What should I do?_ she panicked _Should I tell him or not? Should I let Kingsley handle this?_

"But you know that, don't you? The real reason" he accused her with a hurt look "You kicked me out the second you saw me being in the same room as her. And... I was there, when you comforted her. I didn't overheard, but you knew why she was so terrified and you were able to calm her" Harry made a fist of his free hand "What's going on? I tried to talk to Kingsley and he avoided the topic like the plague. Look, if my presence hurt her, I won't stick around. But I need to know if I've done something. Maybe I can fix it".

He was begging her now, and Hermione's heart ached. There was nothing to "fix", per se, in what had been done; but she could already see the expression he'll made; she knew how Harry, loving, overwhelming with kindness Harry, would react at the revelation.

And exactly because she knew and they were best friends, Hermione realised she couldn't have someone else tell him.

 _I'_ _m sorry Delphi._

She rose from the armchair and pointed to the door of the nearest closet, the mug of chamomile still in her hands. One of them was going to need it in the next minutes.

"Not here".

* * *

Harry was having a horrible feeling right now. He had pushed and pushed till Hermione had given up, and he'd been relieved when she had, but now he was worried. His friend had look so tired, so wary... and so hurt, on his behalf. When he had told her he would've liked to eventually fix things she had almost being on the verge of tears... because she was sorry for him. On top of that, she had insisted to talk privately and had cast every kind of protective spells around them and the tiny closet where they were hiding, reeking of disinfectant and medical potions.

"I didn't lied" she began abruptly "She's terrified because the Rowle did raised her in fear of you. They probably told her for years that, had she crossed your path, you would've killed her".

His mind revolted at the thought "That's ridiculous. I was recognised for using expelliarmus instead of lethal spells back then, I used it on _Voldemort_ , and suddenly I'm the one out to kill people?". How dared they. "Why should she believe such a thing? Even the elves knew the truth, I talked with them".

Hermione shook her head "You don't get it. She didn't thought you were a child murderer, she thought you would've been after her".

" _What?_ I didn't even knew she existed until five hours ago and you say she's been raised thinking I was... what, hunting her down? And for what reason, if I may ask?" he hoped Hermione's spells were holding because he was shouting.

She gave him the tiniest, saddest smile.

"To finish the job".

"Hermione" he tried to reason, to stay calm "I never crossed the Rowle. They were... irrelevant. Some members were never convicted or even accused. So. What have I done to this child, exactly, for her to think her death would be an accomplishment for me? It doesn't make sense".

His friend hid her face in her hands and Harry almost freaked out. Something was very wrong here.

"Harry" she started, without looking at him "She's not a Rowle. She's been living with them since she was a baby, hidden in the estate, but she's no Rowle".

 _What..._

"What were her parents..."

"They're dead, Harry!" Hermione shouted. She looked exhausted "They're gone" she repeated and sounded... relieved? "She's been an orphan since the Battle. And..." she paused, as unable to continue, to explain. Which meant...

"That they were Death Eaters too" he concluded. That was it, then. The Rowle had used her parents deaths in the Battle to made him her monster.

"No" Hermione wasn't done "I was about to say "and you made her so", actually" she looked at him as apologising for what she was doing "That's why it's personal Harry. Because you killed her parents that day" another pause, while Harry was more confused than ever "You... and Molly"

 _Molly?_ Molly and he, at the Battle? They had killed a family? No. Hell, he would've remembered it! And Molly! Molly, who had never killed anyone in her life...

... apart form Bellatrix.

And he, Harry...

God.

"Have you put it together?" Hermione asked quietly.

But Harry wasn't able to answer her, his mind in a state of shock.

 _This isn_ _'_ _t true. This is a nightmare. I_ _'_ _m dreaming. She can_ _'_ _t be_ _…_ _I can_ _'_ _t have_ _…_

Hermione had to be kidding. This was all an elaborate ruse, no alternatives. True, it explained everything, from the child's terror to her being kept hidden, even Voldemort researches. But his mind refused to accept it.

"Hermione, how can it be? We raided all the Death Eaters mansions as soon as the war ended. Where was she? Bellatrix lived with her sister, and the Malfoy… they testified for days. They never mentioned a child. No one ever mentioned a child! She can't be…" he felt nauseated "Riddle's".

 _Don_ _'_ _t tell me I created an orphan the day I avenged my parents._

"Harry"

 _Don_ _'t!_

"Harry" she pressed gently "She is a Parselmouth. I saw her talk with snakes in that grove. And it wasn't me who distracted the chimaera, it was her, her talking with the tail. There is no doubt about that, unless you think I'll ever lie to you on this subject".

He clenched his fist so hard his nails sticked in the palms. "I know you won't. I… just…" he sighed "What now?"

He was met by a similar sigh "I don't know. I really don't know. I'll have her stay with me for the time being, then we'll see, I suppose".

He nodded, just half listening at her. Voldemort had a child. His brain was spinning around the news like a top, trying to find some sense. If he had wanted someone to experiment upon, he had had lots of muggleborn children in his power from August to May. And if the test subject had to be younger then he could've just kidnapped one? Who was there to stop him back then? Or had the child just happened, unplanned, and he'd decided to roll with it and empower his own bloodline? Or else, had it been planned, to be a better second in command than Bellatrix or Malfoy could've ever been?

 _Every time I think he could sink now lower, there he goes. And that would also mean it wasn_ _'_ _t a one night thing and he and Bellatrix used_ _…_ _someone get this picture out of my head this instant!_

Merlin, he knew Bellatrix was out of her mind but this… urgh.

"Hermione, I think I might need that mug of yours" he said. As she lend it to him, her pocket started to glow. With a frown she pulled out her coin and lightened up as soon as she read the inscribed message. Hermione waved her wand dispelling the protection spells and headed for the door without a word, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him along.

"Are the healers done?" he inquired.

"Kingsley just texted me, he's waiting out of their door right now. Hurry".

He hadn't even had time for a single sip.

* * *

And indeed Kingsley was waiting for them at the surgery's threshold with three healers, only one of them familiar to Hermione. Their grim expressions weren't exactly promising, but she tried to think positively. Voldemort wouldn't have his own blood damaged, would he? He would have wanted her to live, to properly use her, right? Right? She was visibly fretting by the time they reached the group and shot a look at Kingsley hoping for some kind of reassurance: maybe they'd already told him something. But he just shrug his shoulders as he let them enter the surgery before him.

 _This doesn_ _'_ _t look good._

The healers briefly introduced themselves and led them through a short corridor up to a small office where they were invited to take a sit. Hermione did as told and started to observe the room and its furnitures as an attempt to calm down.

"Before anything else, miss Granger" began healer Abbott, and Hermione's attention shifted to her in a hurry "I'd like to compliment you for tonight. Children with such experiences learn fast not to trust adults, but you managed to win her over: she's spent the last two hours praising and asking for you. I hope you'll stop to see her after the meeting".

 _I interacted with her for such a short time and she already ask, must be starving for affection. I wonder if it was deliberate._

"Of course I will. I... I actually intended to take her home with me... if the hospital doesn't want her to stay, that is".

Abbott smiled "She'll be delighted, I'm sure. And no, we don't think a longer hospitalisation required for the time being".

Her and her colleagues smiles then faded away as she grabbed a block notes and frowned. Even Kingsley leaned forward from his seat.

"Alright, then" she began "Good news first: we made several tests and found the child physically fine and in good health; quite strong, in fact. Delphini, that's a greek name, isn't it?, denied she had ever been beaten or received physical mistreatment and when we looked into it, we found as she said. There's a new spell to make the body reveal its past condition and injuries, so we can be reasonably sure of this result. Given the evidences, I deemed a further investigation in her memory not appropriate... especially given how uncomfortable she is to have magic performed on her person".

"What do you-" tried to ask Harry, but he was cut short when Abbot introduced her Indian colleague as one of the best experts on magical experiments and humans alterations.

"And here's where the good news end, I'm afraid" he started.

Not exactly encouraging, in Hermione's view, if "she wasn't beaten" was the best they could hope for.

"I skimmed those handwritings you Aurors retrieved" he began "The practice is obscure and known to a few of us; it is mentioned in historical texts and was at its, let's say, peak of fame during ancient times of civil unrest or conflict between ancient wizards and their muggle counterparts civilisations. I will need to consult other colleagues and it won't be easy, but it shouldn't kill the child and in theory it can be dealt with".

"Excuse me" Hermione, thought glad the healers wouldn't have to start from scratch, had spotted something she didn't liked and had to be sure she'd understood "Did you said "in theory"? There are no known countermeasures?"

"That would depend on your idea of countermeasures miss Granger" answered he offering an apologetic smile "If you wish to undo the process or erase the damage already done, then no, there are not".

 _Oh._

"On top of that, from my observations I believe the historical ritual has been modified and made more brutal to maxims the results. It will take time to discover if we're facing a known variant or a new one. Or worse, if the current results only depends on errors made following the proper ritual".

He halted and briefly waved his wand against the wall on their right, where pictures started to appear side by side: photos of Delphi's arms.

The first one showed her arms stretched, fully covered from palms to elbows in those bloodstained bandages. It was upsetting, but not even remotely as much as the following.

In the other picture the bandages had been removed and the damage was fully visible. Jagged red scars, some of them long as an adult hand. White (perhaps older, or better healed?) scars, smaller but almost everywhere, forming what it looked like a pattern. Bleeding open wounds.

Hermione found herself unable to divert the look from the wall. She remembered how the girl had dismissed their concerns over her arms as it was nothing and even worse, as it was a good thing, something meant to aid her. Barbaric.

" _This_ is why I know we're not dealing with the regular ritual" said the healer. "This level of damage is unheard of, at least in the texts I've studied. And since in this kind of magic what is visible is just a symptom of the internal wreckage... it give us an idea at the extent of the manipulation".

"Is it painful? Does she suffer?" she asked.

"The bandages are meant to keep the pain at bay and prevent the magic to escape her control until she can master it as intended: think of them as a sealing artefacts".

Another wave of the healer hand and photos of said bandages, glowing in a red light, appeared.

"But yes, once they're removed, it's painful. It took us quite some time to convince her to remove them, she feared the pain. I asked some questions, trying to stay vague, and she told me that her..." he made a brief pause and spat the following word "... _guardians_ always said the rituals were a necessity to reinforce her magic. That she was... _defective_ and thus in dire need of it. I deemed the girl too upset to let her know the truth and just reassured her she'd been brave to endure it".

Here, he looked directly at her "Nonetheless, I strongly suggest to approach the topic and have her known. Don't let this idea take more roots on her mind, it won't end well".

Hermione took advantage of his pause and cut in "Have you already decided a course of action, is there a therapy or anything we can do in these days?".

He shook his head. "I won't take a single step before consulting with other experts, the situation is too delicate. The child said the monthly ritual was performed this evening shortly before your arrival, so we have a full month of time. All I can suggest for now is: keep those bandages on and a close eye on her arms and her general health. And do come back in two weeks, by then I'll have continued my researches and we'll be able to do a more accurate analysis".

 _I may reconsider that statement about Voldemort wanting her to live, after all. So much for being a magical prodigy when messing with obscure rituals in the wrong way can kill your daughter. And leaving instructions to your not brightest men. What an_ idiot.

She took a pen and a little piece of paper from one of her gear pockets and wrote everything down, underlining some concepts here and there. She raised her head only when healer Abbot cleared her throat.

"My apologies" she offered "I'm sure all of you just want to go home, but before you leave I must add my diagnosis to healer Mehra's one. This will concern especially you, miss Granger, since you're going to take her home".

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her chair but nodded nonetheless. She silently told herself to get a grip, pushed her chair nearer Abbott's desk and prepared to listen. A subdued noise on her left told her Harry had come closer as well. But healer Abbott wasn't talking, though. Playing with her block notes, torturing her hands, as on verge of saying something and then holding herself back.

"Healer, there is even worse to say?" said Kingsley at last "I quite assure you we can all endure it".

"It's bad, but that's not the problem. If I may, Minister, I am holding back because I simply cannot stand the thought to be met with dismissal and laugh, not with the current stakes".

Hermione was completely taken by surprise. Healer Abbott was one of the best of the entire structure. She had published in international medical journals and her work with children was renowned: she was an authority.

"We... we known your history Healer. Could you elaborate?" said Harry. Hermione was sure he was remembering how Abbott had saved Teddy three years before, to expect laugh from him was unbelievable.

"I may be a Pureblood from a long standing line, and I may had had a very traditional mentor here, mr Potter, but I had been interested in our muggle colleagues way of dealing with illnesses long before the Second War. They have a branch of medicine, psychology, almost unknown to us, you and miss Granger must know about it, that I've spent years studying. A sub branch of the discipline is specialised in dealing with children and their specific issues. Issues sometimes so deep seated that they incubate for years and then resurface when there's nothing left to do. Illnesses not provoked by spells or creatures and that a potion or a spell cannot cure, no matter how much we wish they could. So, so many of my fellow magical colleagues or patients dismiss it without a second thought, no matter their blood status" she paused, her voice hoarse.

"We _are_ stronger, after all. We can handle a lot that muggles can't. But I can say without doubt that our minds are no different, and wizard-kin minds may break as much as muggle's, even without magic involved". She quietly pointed at the pictures still on the wall "This child mind may not break, but if nothing will be done she will suffer from the aftermath of her childhood for years, and I..." another pause, as she was remembering something painful "I will not stand by and let it happen again". She looked right at them "Now you can laugh, if you wish. Won't be the first nor the last".

 _No way on earth I_ _'_ _m going to. I may be in the mood to curse someone, but it ain_ _'t her._

"Healer Abbott. You will tell us your diagnosis _right now,_ and tomorrow you and I will have a long discussion with the faculty".

She smiled "Thank you, Minister. Now" she turned at Hermione with a new resolve "it won't take long: unsurprisingly, she's not used to be around many people or strangers and while her first reaction is extreme shyness or attempting to hide, if pushed too hard she can become aggressive in order to be left in peace. I believe this to be a self defence mechanism over not being loved and fear of adult wizards, so I suggest for her to have time to get used to her new place and the family, have patience and don't push her to met your friends or other children. When she will feel more comfortable around you, that will be the time. And start with children, since she's already curious of them and, most important, they won't be perceived as threatening".

"You mentioned fear of adult wizards" interjected Kingsley "Haven't you said she wasn't mistreated?"

"We said she hadn't been physically mistreated. No human contacts allowed bar the Rowle siblings, coldness, little affection showed and tortures sold as cures are as grave as beatings and even more damaging in the long term. Which in fact tie with the extreme discomfort she feel when someone try to perform magic on her. She will endure it and won't be vocal about it but you will may notice how she'll try to shift away or retire in herself and put on a distant expression when magic is inevitable. I assure you it's not coldness, but fear. Outside a controlled and familiar events like a lesson she tie magic performed by adults with being hurt in the rituals"

The urge to wake Euphemia Rowle and repeatedly punch her was growing in Hermione by the seconds.

"Let's assume she get hurt" she asked "Should I refrain from using magical aids?"

Abbott shook her head "Not necessarily. But approach the subject with care, explain to her what are you going to do and why and, this is important, if possible, do demonstrate the spell on an object first. Do take care not to wave your wand around her arms, though, you may trigger a panic episode. We did this mistake in the first minutes of her examination and then spent a quarter of an hour to calm her attack"

Hermione wrote everything down, already thinking about moving some WW goods they had home in the basement and making a mental note to inform Ron and George as soon as possible.

"Then there's the subject of her plush".

She raised her head from the notes at once, worried. What did Abbot knew? Had Delphi let something slip by error?

"She's... almost emotionally dependent on it. Her being fond of it isn't bad, mind you, and if it's the only reminder she have of her parents it's even more understandable, but she refuse to let it go or to be touched by strangers, saying there are "recordings" in it and then refusing to add anything else. I wouldn't want the toy had been provided instruction or informations to influence her, so please be careful of it".

 _It_ _'_ _s good that she doesn_ _'_ _t suspect a thing, but if Delphi refuse to let them be heard then hey_ _'_ _re probably in parseltongue. This is bad. Very bad. Harry can_ _'_ _t speak it anymore, we have no way to check._

Hermione took another note and apposed a little snake near it. Then, when she tried to raise her head from the paper, her vision went black. She blinked three or four times and had to shake herself to successfully fight back the dizziness, but couldn't suppress a yawn.

"Herm!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine" _not really_ "I'm just a little tired, that's all. You were saying healer?" she said, supporting her head with a hand.

"No, mister Potter is right. It's past 4 am and all of you have had a terrible night. Go get Delphini and go home, we can make an appointment in a better date and discuss the situation as long as we wish. And by then you would be already able to tell me how she settled in in the first days, so all the better".

Hermione nodded, grateful, and said yes, of course, she will call the hospital the next day, yes, yes, please, led me to her. Healers and Aurors rose alike from their seats and left the office. Kingsley, Harry and healers Mehra and Abbot headed to the exit while Hermione was accompanied to Delphi by another one, a old witch that had assisted silently for the whole discussion and was now thanking Merlin and Paracelsus for having such kind and competent people in charge of something in this institution. Needless to say Hermione wasn't exactly listening and only came out of her stupor when, introduced in a highly illuminated surgery, she heard her name being shouted from a corner of the room.

* * *

Delphi was sleepy, tired and scared. The healers had been nice enough, but she still hadn't liked them one bit. Removing her bandages and trying to take away her owl, all the no in the world to that. Her arms were really hurting now, the wounds burning from the air exposure. At least they had left her alone when she'd asked, she appreciated it.

They had even conjured a bed for her to rest, with warm blankets and a soft pillow, a place to sleep until miss Granger hadn't finished talking with them and had come to pick her up, or so they had said.

She had tried to lay down and sleep, she really had. The first time, the idea she'd left too much slip and the healers had figured out Father had kept her awake and trembling, waiting for them to come back and curse her. The second, her arms were hurting so bad she'd suspected Damocles had messed up the ritual and the healers were trying to figuring out what to do.

The third it had been the awareness of being completely alone, on a not shielded bed, in the middle of a highly illuminated room in St Mungo itself.

And the fourth, the always lurking thought that miss Granger was done with her. She had kept the promise to took her away from Ravenscar after all; she had no reason to come back anymore.

And so Delphi had abandoned the bed, taken a couple of blankets, the pillow and settled for the floor. She had immediately looked out for a corner: easier to defend, with her back and sides covered, and with not one but three spots where to put the pillow and let her head rest. She had also chosen the corner with the best view on the door and was still looking at it, restless. She knew the possibilities of anyone bar a healer trespassing that door were low. Elves were the kind of people to drop by and say hello even if they weren't compelled to, not wizards. She missed them so much. Still, she waited, her eyes glued to the door, unable to abandon that tiny sparkle of hope.

" _I want to give you a home. People who_ _'_ _ll love you_ _"_

She wanted to believe it. Part of her, the one which'd made her sit on that floor, clung to it, but she was almost nine now and she knew better. Father had told her he would've come back and she had believed him. She had waited for years, until the day she'd overheard Damocles and learnt he wasn't going to. Miss Granger had no reason to come. Delphi was just the child of her enemies, what kind of person used to take care of that? Not the ones she knew or had studied about.

Her eyelids were heavy, the blanket she'd wrapped around herself warm and cozy, and Delphi leaned her head on her kneels and closed her eyes.

 _Just a moment. I_ _'_ _ll rest just a moment, I promise._

She was slowly losing consciousness, floating in a comfy little bubble, when a sudden noise shook her from her numbness. The noise of a opening door, and women's voices. Delphi stiffened against the wall, unsure if she had to fear or not, but removed the blanket: if she had had to defend herself, her arms had to be free.

Everything happened in the span of seconds. The first woman, the old healer, stepped in without spotting her and ran to the empty bed. And then, someone else entered the room. Dark skin, fuzzy black hair, torn gear. Her breath almost stopped for a moment. She had come back.

Delphi felt the tears streaming down and didn't bothered to wipe them off while raising from her spot and running towards miss Granger.

" _Hermione!"_

She almost stumbled on her way, the sudden transition from sleepy and sitting to vigilant and standing being too abrupt for her tired body, but she managed to get to the woman and master enough self control to halt before hugging her.

Which turned out to be perfectly useless, as miss Granger knelt and hugged her herself: a little embarrassing, but Merlin if it didn't felt good.

Delphi hid her face in miss Granger's mass of curly hair to muffle her voice.

"You came back. I thought it would've ended like with Father, but you. _You_ came back. _Thank you_ ". She lowered her voice once more "I told them the less I could, just that I've lived at the manor since forever and knew nothing about my parents".

Miss Granger nodded and murmured a "Well done" before loosening the hug and looking at her, smiling. She did that a lot, she and the other adults too: Delphi had been noticing it during the whole evening and night now, but it puzzled her like the first time, all these strangers smiling and being nice to her for no reason. Not that she was complaining, but the difference with her experience so far was glaring.

"Of course I did. And if you're fine with it, I'm going to take you home with me right now. We both need a good sleep, don't you agree?"

 _Her_ home?

Delphi nodded, speechless and fighting back the tears. "Lemme get my plush and I'll be ready".

About ten minutes later, after miss Granger had confirmed that yes, she had the Minister permission, please, it's past 4:30 am... they were finally ready to go. Apparently you couldn't apparate within the hospital walls for security issues, so she and miss Granger were now standing on a little platform in one of the hospital's gardens. Delphi had been wrapped in three different blankets and while she had had problems moving during the transfer she was now all warm and well, while on her right miss Granger was trembling from the cold, waiting for the old healer to set up their portkey, her hands shaking.

 _Have I tired her so much she doesn_ _'_ _t remember to cast a warming spell on herself?_

She moved in front of the older woman, grabbed her hands and wrapped them in the blankets, rubbing them together to increase the warm. When the witch looked down to her with a surprised expression, she smiled. Saying "thanks" wasn't enough and all this physical affection thing was a bit alien to her, but she could improve.

As the portkey became ready, miss Granger freed herself, took Delphi in her arms and touched the boot in few seconds. It was very abruptly, but Delphi didn't complain: she wanted nothing more than a bed and hours to sleep and she suspected it was the same for the woman.

* * *

Few moments of panic, the horrible sensation of being throw into the sky, her sense of direction becoming completely shaken and useless, and then it was over.

They had popped up on a hill swept by the rain, in front of a little two-storey house, very different from Ravenscar and not even a quarter its size: the house elf working there had probably nothing to do for days. Miss Granger took her hand, guided her at the little entrance and then, after evaporating the rain from both of them, opened the door and gestured at Delphi to precede her.

She hugged her plush and stepped in the same moment miss Granger managed to turn on the lights. The room she saw was half an entrance hall and half a living room, as the architects had had no space for both. Strange. There was a limited area on their left, near the door and the wall, where boots, shoes, cloaks and various other things rested (Delphi spotted something she suspected be a _physical_ umbrella, fascinating), be it on the floor, in a shoes cupboard or on a clothes hanger, all mixed with... colourful toys? And she could've sworn she'd saw a little dark mark rolling away, but it was probably her mind playing tricks.

The living room was tiny, so, so tiny, but warm and colourful, unlike the ones at the manor. It was full of fluff and soft things, cushions and toys all over the two sofas; with a library (more of a badly assorted bunch of shelves, really) exploding with books, which she liked a lot. There was a fireplace, obviously, and when miss Granger fired it up Delphi immediately moved to approach it, but something else draw her attention away. A thin, rectangular object with a little central leg, black as ink and with a mirror-like surface, put on a low piece of furniture against the wall in front of the bigger sofa, positioned to be seen from any place of the room. She had never seen such a thing.

"First time you see a TV? I can show you how it work, but... tomorrow, 'kay? Now let's go upside, I'll get the guest room ready and we'll finally have our rest"

She nodded, her eyes wide with excitement, and Miss Granger gave her a tired smile before removing her own cloak and Delphi's blankets and putting them on the hanger. They crossed the living room together, with Delphi looking at everything but firmly on the witch trails, and reached what, despite being plunged into darkness, was still recognisable as the stair hall.

"Hermione Jean Granger" said a voice in the dark, making her hide immediately behind said Granger and grabbing her "It's a quarter to five AM and you called three hours ago. Explain".

The staircase light was lit and a man appeared on the landing, his arms crossed on the chest and an expression similar to Damocles's "what else have you done now" one. Delphi peered over Granger's side for more seconds and examined the man's features. From what she could see from her position, he was quite tall, maybe a head and more than Granger, red haired, with a short trimmed beard and some dark drawings on his arms. Was this the other friend of Potter, the Weasley? He was a little less mentioned at home but sometimes, when Damocles was busy ranting about the past, his name was cursed as much as the other two.

"I know, and I'm sorry Ron. But I had to stay longer" miss Granger wasn't moving, keeping Delphi out of sight as much as she could. She didn't wanted to make it more difficult and retreated behind her back. After all, she had a long and successful experience in ears-dropping and stair-listening and she didn't need to see to understand the mood.

"Look, your dedication to your job it's amazing and I'll never tell you how to do it, but you can't call in the middle of the night to tell me the Death Eaters fought back with a bloody chimaera and you're all right but at Mungo... and then disappear for three hours. You can't, Mione. It scared me to death and I was so upset I made so much noise that Rosie woke up and cried for an hour straight" he took a pause and went down the stairs, jumping two steps at a time and stopping right in front of his... wife? lover?

He suddenly hugged her and since Delphi wasn't fast enough to get away from the woman, his hands brushed her head. They both halted. The brightness of the room's light increased and Delphi, hugging her owl the hardest she could, found herself looking right in a pair of light blue bewildered eyes.

"Mione" he said, still hugging her while furiously blinking at Delphi.

"... yes?"

"Am I hallucinating… or is there a child behind you?"

"You're... not". Miss Granger sounded extremely embarrassed and Weasley was still blinking. Delphi couldn't really blame either of them.

"Hello?" she tried.

Weasley let go of his woman and stepped aside to face her, his expression becoming more bewildered by the minute.

"He- hello to you too, little one. I am Ron Weasley" a little pause "... you are?"

"Delphini, sir. Just Delphini" she remained quiet for a moment before adding "I'm no Rowle, though".

His eyes narrowed and he had just opened his mouth when miss Granger put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

"Not now, please. Damocles Rowle escaped, Euphemia is in coma and Delphi had nowhere to go, so I offered to let her stay with us at least for tonight and tomorrow. I'll explain everything but... let me put her to sleep before, okay? She's just eight".

 _Two months and I_ _'_ _ll be nine, but yes, please. I_ _'_ _m tired._

"Oh, s-sure" he was quite shocked, it was evident, but quickly resettled, smiled and then bowed gesturing at the stairs "Let me do the honours, ladies". Miss Granger chuckled amused while Delphi didn't know what to think.

 _Is the world full of nice people and I lucked out at the manor or what? He just found a stranger in his home and is already kind to me._

If miss Granger's family and friends were all like her and her man then she wanted to stay in this house forever.

* * *

The bedroom was less than half the size of her previous one, just like the house, but she liked it nonetheless. To begin with, it was warmer and the bed was as big as hers. And the fireplace was closer to the bed, too, with a beautiful blue fire devouring the logs. But most of all, Delphi just knew this was supposed to be just a bedroom and not her only safe place in the building. From what she'd observed and heard at the hospital, no one would've cut her arms open in this house. She knew the rituals were for her own good, of course, but... the healers had seemed horrified back at Mungo, not resigned, so maybe there would be another way to fix her?

Also, when she'd entered the room for the first time, she'd found her plushes already pulled outside the truck and put everywhere, with the Thunderbird under the duvet to keep her company.

Miss Granger had made them wait outside for few embarrassing seconds and when she'd called again everything had been put into place.

"I thought you could've felt more comfortable surrounded by your things from the beginning, especially given how sudden has been the change" she explained. "I know it's not the same but-"

Delphi had heard enough. She run right to Granger and hugged her with all the strength she could gather, her eyes puffy. They remained so for a while, in perfect silence, till Delphi felt her eyelids closing and then everything happened very confusedly.

She was being hold in miss Granger's arms and lifted and carried to the bed. Her clothes were replaced by a pyjama in one blink and she was made to lie down and the duvet tucked up to cover her, all between a yawn and another.

Everything around her was comfortable and safe, and the Thunderbird's familiar mass at her side made everything better. She yawned and blinked a few times and had just the time to murmur a sheepish "good night" before her consciousness finally faded away.

* * *

 **A word about some choices I made in this chapter.**  
 **I'm aware that there's a section of fandom who like not to criticise but to bash the wizarding world for its shortcomings and glorify the muggle one. I don't want that and I'm not interested in writing bashing.**

 **That said, neither in the books, the movies or the ancillary canon (Pottermore, interviews etc) is ever shown something akin to a figure for professional psychological support and help or any kind of child services. Instead, is very clear how uninterested most wizards are in the "muggle" world. I opted to have them being generally in the dark regarding these matters, with some people pushing the change forward as Hermione did for the house elves.**

 **Second and last, Delphi's psychological issues, which only begin to be discussed here.**  
 **I made my researches and consulted with a therapist about how to handle her character, which I want to do at the best of my abilities, but I can't assure there won't be mistakes. If you find something wrong, please, let me know so I can do my best to fix it.**


End file.
